EVENT ALERT: NYC March 29 Thru April 1 - Camp Obama & The 11th Annual Natinal Black Writers Workshop -Be There

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

You know how we do in New York City: There is an activity going on somewhere every second of every hour of the day in the city that really never ever sleeps. I am only presenting three of the more than 3000 that is going on this week end. But if you think I made a mistake and got the dates backwards, believe me, I didn't. President Barack Obama comes first. And this Obama Boot Camp is a key event to participate in. I would rather they have to turn people away because too many showed up; or to have to schedule and additional workshop, than to not have enough people involved. We are responsible for making sure each and every one of us turn out. We lost the mayoral election in 2010 because only 20% of Brooklyn showed up. Can't have any more days like that. So this is the most important event of the weekend, bar none.

No offense to my other brothers and sisters, because all of our programs have relevance to us as a people, individually and collectively. But somehow we have to make it out business to be at that OBAMA BOOTCAMP because we cannot assume we know everything we need to know to defeat the Republicans and effect a victory.

DATE: Saturday,March 31, 2012:
WHAT: CAMP OBAMA - Brooklyn's own Get Out The Vote For Obama Boot Camp
WHEN: 12:00 Until
WHERE: 790 McDonough Ave. @ Saratoga Ave.
WHO: Presented by District Leader,and 2012 Delegate to the Democratic National Convention Robert Cornegy, in conjunction with VIDA (Vann Guard Independent Democrats Association) and OBAMA FOR AMERICA 2012 COMMITTEE.
This is one of the best Get Out the Vote (GOTV) training camps ever and is organized to help us help President Obama be re-elected. It's free and open to Brooklyn residents and those who wish to work in President Obama's campaign. The Republicans have shown us that they have absolutely no regard or respect for Americans - whether they are Black or white; and even less respect for the best president this country has ever had, Barack Hussein Obama. Take the time to learn the strategies that the Obama Team has put together so that we in Brooklyn are at our most effective level ever.
CONTACT: Robert Cornegy 347-385-8074.


DATE: Thursday, March 29, 2012
WHAT: PREVIEW SCREENING & LIVE EVENT
Woman Thou Art Loosed!: On the 7th Day
WHERE: Museum of Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106
WHEN: 7:00 p.m.
WHO: AAWIC: AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN IN CINEMA
Featuring Director Neema Barnette!
The second film in Pastor TD Jake’s inspiring Woman Thou Art Loosed! series, On the 7th Day, is a gripping thriller and family drama filmed in New Orleans. You just gotta see it for yourself.

11TH ANNUAL NATIONAL BLACK WRITER'S WORKSHOP
Program Schedule
Info and detailed schedule on our Registration page.
NOTE: Book signings will take place in the President’s Conference Center after each reading, panel and discussion.
DAY ONE: Thursday, March 29, 2012
9:30 a.m. ­– noon
Elementary School Program
Presented by Just Us Books
Founders Auditorium (Bedford Building)
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
High School Program
Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets, Tony Medina, and other poets.
Founders Auditorium (Bedford Building)
10 a.m. ­– 12 p.m.
Middle School Workshop: Session 1
Workshop coordinated by Gregory Walker
Location: Mary S. Pinkett Lecture Hall, Room S122
Student Services Building (S Building)
10 a.m. ­– 12 p.m>
High School Workshop: Session 2
Workshop PEN American Center
Location: Room(s): TBD

Presentation of Papers
10:00 a.m. – 3:45 p.m - Ongoing
Location: Edison O. Jackson Auditorium
Academic Complex Building (AB 1)
Faculty, independent researchers, and students present papers
that examine the representation of history and memory in
the works of one of the following honorees:
Ishmael Reed, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Nikki Giovanni,
as well as the late John Oliver Killens.
4:00 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Elders Writing Workshop
Elders Writers Workshop Presentation
LocationFounders Auditorium, Medgar Evers College
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m
Off-Site Event Free and Open to the Public

NBWC Poetry Café with Host: Tai Allen
Location: Brooklyn Public Library
10 Grand Army Plaza
Featuring poets Aracelis Girmay, Tony Medina, Patricia Smith, among others

DAY TWO:Friday, March 30, 2012
Films Celebrating Activism in Black Literature
11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Continuous
11:15  a.m: The Life and Times of Little Jimmy B
Director:  Alison McDonald
11:35 a.m: I Leave My Colors Everywhere
Directors: Tami Ravid    Producer: Julia de Boer
1:10 p.m.: Sonia Sanchez: Shake Loose Memories
Directors: Jamal Joseph, Rachel Watanabe-Batton
Producers: Voza Rivers, Jamal Joseph, and Rachel Watanabe-Batton
Featuring performances of her works by Amiri Baraka, Oscar Brown Jr., T.C. Carson, and Toshi Reagon.
Location: Founders Auditorium
2:15 p.m.: Panel Discussion and Q & A: History of Activism in Black literature
Panelists: Poets Sonia Sanchez, Ekere Tallie, filmmaker Alison McDonald, and author/filmmaker Jamal Joseph; Maitefa Angaza, African Voices moderator

4:30 p.m.– 5:15 p.m.
Readings, Panels and Roundtable Discussions
Poetry Reading with Haki Madubuti, Founder Third World Press and Tyehimba Jess
Founders Auditorium, Medgar Evers College

5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m
"By Any Means Necessary, Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented” Roundtable
Herb Boyd, Ron Daniels, Diane D. Turner, Michael Simanga, and Regina Jennings discuss By Any Means Necessary—Malcolm X: Real, Not Reinvented, Critical Conversations on Manning Marable's Biography of Malcolm X edited by Herb Boyd, Ron Daniels, Maulana Karenga, and Haki Madhubuti.
Moderator: Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad/Director Schomberg Library

7:30 p.m – 9 p.m.
Official Conference Opening
Mistress of Ceremonies, Terrie M. Williams
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Honoree and Featured Speaker
Location: Founders Auditorium
Free and Open to the Public
(Registration/sign–in will be required for this event)

9:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
2012 NBWC Jazz Concert at For My Sweet
Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium
Location: 1103 Fulton Street; Brooklyn, NY 11238
Jazz concert w/ Victor Brown, Bilal Sunni Ali, Larry McDonald, and Danny Bowens, former members of the late Gil Scott-Heron’s bands Midnight Band and Amnesia Express, along with special guests.

DAY THREE:Saturday, March 31, 2012
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Professional Development Workshop for Teachers
Walking the Distance of Your Vision:
Requires $25 registration fee
Quraysh Ali Lansana,
Location: TBD

10:00a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Continous
Panels and Roundtable Discussions
Master of Ceremonies Leroy Baylor
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.; Moderator: Jose Torres-Padilla
Defining “Urban,” “Street,” and “Hip-Hop” Literature
Panelists: Karen Hunter, Joan Morgan, Shaun Neblett, and Sofia Quintero>
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Moderator: Jeffery Renard Allen
Migration and Cultural Memory in the Literature of Black Writers
Panelists: Opal Palmer Adisa, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Uche Nduka, and Kadija (George) Sesay.
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Moderator:Esther Armah.
Books, Media, and Culture: A Conversation with Tavis Smiley
3:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Moderator: Obery M. Hendricks
The Impact of Popular Culture on Politics in the Literature of Black Writers
Panelists: William Jelani Cobb, Keli Goff, Anthony Grooms, Lita Hooper, Michael Simanga, and the Rev. Conrad Tillard
2012 NBWC Reading Series
12:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location: Academic Complex Building (AB1)
Room L-11, First Floor, 1638 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Tribute and Awards Program
Honoring the achievements and works of Ishmael Reed,Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Nikki Giovanni, and Dr. Howard Dodson.
This Program is Free and Open to the Public
(Registration/sign–in will be required for this event)
Mistress of Ceremonies, Cheryl Wills
The program will also feature Keorapetse Kgositsile - South Africa’s National Poet Laureate
2012 NBWC Honorees
Ishmael Reed – John Oliver Killens Lifetime Achievement Award
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o – W. E. B. Du Bois Award
Nikki Giovanni – Gwendolyn Brooks Award
Dr. Howard Dodson – Ida B. Wells Institutional Leadership Award
Location: Founders Auditorium, 1650 Bedford Ave.
National Black Writers Conference
VIP Reception
Location:
Skylight Café
AB1 Bldg. 2nd Floor
Medgar Evers College
1638 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11225
Donation: $75

Must be paid in advance. Find out how on our Registration page. Tickets will be available in the Registration Area until capacity is reached or until 7:30 PM. Payment will not be accepted at the door.

Parking is available in the Bedford lot on a “first come first serve” basis. Gain vehicle access via Montgomery St.

Street parking is available, do so at your own discretion.
DAY FOUR: Sunday, April 1, 2012
Talkshops
Session 1 - 10:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m.  
Fiction: Tiphanie Yanique, Novelist
Poetry: Opal Palmer Adisa, Poet
Book Reviews: Darryl Pinckney, NYRB
Session 2 - 11:30 a.m. –12:45 p.m.
Dramatic Writing: P. J. Gibson, Playwright
Creative Nonfiction: Kadija George
Book Proposals: Regina Brooks, Serendipity Literary Agency

Panels and Roundtable Discussions
Master of Ceremonies, Patrick Oliver
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Black Writers and Ecoliterature: Stories, Essays, and Poetry Shaped by the Natural Environment
Panelists: Sarah M. Broom, Camille Dungy, Nnedi Okorafor, and Patricia Smith
Moderator: Gillian Royes

12:45 p.m.–2:15 p.m: Moderator: Grace Aneiza Ali
The Role of Social Media: Black Writers Take Literature to the Web
Panelists: Angela Dodson, Joel Dreyfuss, Troy Johnson, Montague Kobbe, Akoto Ofori-Atta, and Laura Pegram
3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Being Sold or Selling Ourselves: Black Writers and the Marketplace
Panelists: Regina Brooks, JLove Calderon, Linda A. Duggins, Lisa C. Moore, Johnny Temple, and Cheryl Woodruff

Whichever event you choose to participate in, just remember, Obama first.

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilsom